To thank volunteers for their assistance, members of foreign delegations and journalists present them with a souvenir. Source: Mikhail Mordasov

It is exciting to be surrounded by
interesting people from all over the world. By the middle of the Games, you are
no longer surprised when you see a famous journalistor your favorite sports
photographer chatting with ordinary people at the bus stop.

Even those of us who do not speak foreign
languages (unfortunately, despite the requirement to be able to speak at least
basic English and the opportunity to attend free English lessons for a year
ahead of the Olympics, a large number of volunteers remain unable to string
three English words together) still manage to be of help to our foreign guests;
sign language and a broad smile work wonders.

To thank volunteers for their assistance,
members of foreign delegations and journalists present them with a souvenir,
usually a pin. These have become a form of currency at
the Olympics.

By the end of the first week, the lanyards that we wear our
accreditations on were covered by a variety of pins from various countries and
organizations. We trade them, trying to find the most rare and unusual ones; we
boast about them ("Look what I've got, an official badge of the
International Ski Federation!"); we are just proud to wear them.

If in the
first days the most frequently asked question among volunteers was "Where
are you from?" now, the most frequent greeting is: "Wow, where did
you get this pin? Will you trade for it?" Trading pins is an old tradition
of Olympic Games. Ours Sochi Games are no exception.

But not all volunteers have had such a
positive experience. Some of them have failed to grasp the basic rules of
appropriate behavior – especially the most important one: don’t get in the way
of people who are working. It would seem to be clear that volunteers should not
intrude on athletes in the competition zone, but not everyone is capable of
resisting the temptation.

By the middle of the Games, some volunteers
have been stripped of their accreditations. Most of the time this is for
harassing athletes.

For example, at the Laura ski and biathlon venue, one
athlete, an international star, complained to the organizers that volunteers
were bothering him with requests for autographs and pictures right in the
competition zone. As a result, several volunteers were sent packing.

If things like that happen at biathlon, one can imagine what
must be happening at ice hockey games. Although since, according to a popular
Soviet song, "hockey is not a game for cowards", volunteers selected
for ice hockey events are probably all people of iron will. Who knows.

The opinion of the writer may not necessarily reflect the position of RBTH or its staff.